California State Fire Marshal

May 2004

Code Development and Analysis

California Code of Regulations - Title 24

Review of NFPA 5000 & NFPA 1

In response to the California Building Standards Commission’s (CBSC) proposed timeline for the publication of the NFPA 5000 and NFPA 1 as the 2004 California Building & Fire Codes, the SFM has revised its timeline accordingly. The SFM’s revised timeline provides stakeholders an extensive review period of approximately nine months. This timeline is available on the SFM’s website at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov.

The SFM will display stakeholder information on future web page postings.

Anyone interested in being added to the SFM’s database, please notify Leslie R. Haberek at leslie.haberek@fire.ca.gov or by fax at (916) 445-8459.

2004 Annual Code Cycle

The CBSC has announced that August 2, 2004 is the submission date for state agency proposed rulemaking to the following Parts of Title 24:

Part 2 - 2001 California Building Code (CBC)
Part 3 – 2001 California Electrical Code (CEC)
Part 4 – 2001 California Mechanical Code (CMC) [Triennial Code Edition]
Part 5 – 2001 California Plumbing Code (CPC) [Triennial Code Edition]
Part 9 – 2001 California Fire Code (CFC)

The SFM anticipates including but not being limited to the submission of the following code changes:

Part 2 – CBC Various sections:

Definition of "New Public School Campus"

Automatic sprinkler systems in public schools

Placement of existing regulations relating to Group R, Division 6 Occupancies - Residential group care facilities into section 310.1.7

Updated referenced standards

Urban Wildland Interface

Part 4 – CMC Adopt by reference the 2003 Edition of the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC)

Bring forward existing amendments of the 2001 CMC that are based upon the 2000 Edition of the UMC

Part 5 – CPC Adopt by reference the 2003 Edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)

Bring forward existing amendments of the 2001 CPC that are based upon the 2000 Edition of the UPC

Part 9 – CFC Various sections:

Automatic sprinkler systems in public schools

Updated referenced standards

Group I, Divisions 1.2, 2 & 3 Occupancies relating to nurse’s stations in existing facilities

For more information on the SFM’s proposed rulemaking visit the SFM’s web site at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov

2004 CBSC’s Code Advisory Committees

The 2001 California Building Standards Administrative Code, Article 1-9 outlines the purpose of the Code Advisory Committees (CAC) as a technical, advisory committee that shall make recommendations on each code change submittal.

Based upon subject matter expertise, CAC applicants are selected in an open forum by the CBSC.

The public will have an opportunity to participate with the committee’s technical review of all proposed rulemaking on the following dates:

Accessibility – January 26 & 27, 2005
Health Facilities – February 2 & 3, 2005
Building, Fire & Other - February 9 & 10, 2005
Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical & Energy - February 16 & 17, 2005
Structural / Lateral Forces - February 23 & 24, 2005

The CAC meetings will be held at:

CBSC

2525 Natomas Park Drive, Suite 130

Sacramento, Ca 95833

For more information about the CAC, visit CBSC’s web site at www.bsc.ca.gov

California Code of Regulations - Title 19

A review of past regulatory activity is being conducted by the SFM in terms of economic impact. These regulations are posted on the SFM website for your review. If you have any questions or should require information regarding the economic impact of these regulations, please contact Rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov.

The latest in regulatory proposals are also posted on our website. If you have any questions or concerns about these economic impacts, please contact Rodney Slaughter.

Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations

The SFM received favorable comments on the Tire Fire Training Program presented at the March 2004 Fire Prevention Officers’ Conference. The former "Rings of Fire" video is being revised, and course materials should be available by August 2004. Several Train-the-Trainer classes will be scheduled for the Fall of 2004.

Any questions regarding the Tire Fire Curriculum should be directed to Rodney Slaughter at (916) 445-8454, or Rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov

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Urban Wildland Interface Building Standards (UWIBS)

The SFM’s performance-based model code language and fire test standards for UWI areas is continuing to be developed, along with the development of specific building standards for proposed adoption by the California Building Standards Commission pursuant to AB 1216 (Vargas, 2003).

The UWI Working Group developed and agreed to a code development plan that will allow the SFM to introduce new code language to the SFM Fire and Life Safety Building Standards Advisory Board and to the Building Standards Commission in August. The UWIBS workgroup has agreed to merge prescriptive code language with performance-based language in the next draft of the UWI Building Code. Upon agreement of all, this draft will be posted on the SFM website.

The next UWIBS meeting is scheduled for May 27, 2004 at:

SFM headquarters

1130 S Street

Sacramento, Ca 95814

California All Incident Reporting System (CAIRS)

With the latest round of Federal Firefighter Assistance Grants being awarded, the CAIRS program is continuing to grow. As NFIRS data is received and processed, participating fire departments should receive letters and/or e-mails acknowledging receipt of the data, along with information on any data validation errors and correction procedures. Program staff is currently working on creating a whole suite of new reports that are very useful for evaluating fire department workload, identifying fire and public safety hazards and more. For more information about this important program, please visit our web page at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/cfirs.html.

Code Enforcement

Statutes and Regulations Course

SFM Division Chief Hugh Council and Division Chief Joe Garcia have scheduled the next two Statutes and Regulations Courses for May 11-13 in El Dorado County and June 8-10 in Monrovia. Pleas contact Fred Russell at (916) 933-6623 for information regarding the El Dorado County class and Alice Robin at (626) 256-8106 for the class in Monrovia.

Fire Engineering

The SFM has completed fireworks disposal operation in Los Angles County. The operation was part of an overall joint operation between the SFM, LA County FD, U.S EPA, and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The Fireworks Advisory Committee met on April 28^th in Southern California.

A work group will update regulations used in our Flame Retardant Chemical and Fabric Program, which will include revisions to our test standards.

Fire Prevention Officers may access copies of all of our BML listings to assist with the plan review of fire alarm systems and equipment. Our website may be accessed at osfm.fire.ca.gov/bml.html.